Also...it seems like most of the speakers specialists were using tube gear...

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I got a special test drive on these speakers.. and WOW was a first thought, and hhhhmm.. OK was the secodn thought...

I walked into their room Saturday right before 6pm. THey were getting ready to wind down, but he asked if we would like to hear something on them. WELL HELL YES!!!

So he pulls out Led Zep, and plays Dazed and Confused on them at a really great volume... ... WOW... the bass was super clean and super tight.. The imaging was way over the top, and the cymbols were ultra clean and really crisp. The vocals I would have called OK though. Nothing outstanding about them.

The other thing about them was at points, it sounded like there might have been a freq range that wasn't quite there, but then again, this is a hotel room we are listening to them in. I would love to hear them in a room tuned for them. I also know that Zep was never the greatest mastered band, so that could be why they seemed a little thin in places to me too. My wife agreed on all these points. We were really impressed by the sound though.

They were running these speakers on a huge CAT tube amp. Talk about tube.. 16 of those beasts in there, and I have a feeling that pure class A had a lot to do with how great the speakers sonded on it..

The question I asked the vendor was about the bass alignment - There are woofers on opposing Left-Right sides of each cabinet. I asked him if the alignment was Bipole (essentially omnidirectional, if XO below baffle step freq) or Dipole. [for anyone still thinking I'm nuts: A lateral dipole is possible - search Gradient Loudspeakers]

He said "look at it!", dipole was "impossible" and my "question is irrelevant". His body language and delivery was even more condemning than the words :thumbsdn: . Zero effort was made to clarify the question.

I guess I owe the vendor an apology: I was listening with my ears and brain, instead of with my eyes and wallet. . . . e'nuff "attitude" from me.

Sorry AK! - I 'didn't mean to drop a turd in the Keg, er--Forum. The Fest indeed was a good time, with (exception noted) good folks all around! I bought the biggest thing in the swap room:yes:, won a doorprize, and met some really cool people, including ones in my own backyard I didn't know. It was a good day!

These speakers have huge field coil drivers in them, and the electronics inside them was pretty impressive.

The first day I heard them, I was really digging them. They sounded a lot like Altecs to me, only with the perfect mix of bass.

The second day though, they just didn't sound quite right to me. They seemed kind of muffled sounding.

I got to listen to War Pigs on them with plenty of volume vigorously applied. They the dynamics where there, they needed some more depth and highs..

Would I love to have these in my house and tuned right.. damn skippy. I could hear the potential.. would I call them worth that price to me? No, but as far as the looks of them, they were some really cool art work, and had sme over the top drivers in them. I saw pictures he had there of them being built, and I can understand the price.. these things were damn near solid chunks of wood..

The question I asked the vendor was about the bass alignment - There are woofers on opposing Left-Right sides of each cabinet. I asked him if the alignment was Bipole (essentially omnidirectional, if XO below baffle step freq) or Dipole. [for anyone still thinking I'm nuts: A lateral dipole is possible - search Gradient Loudspeakers]

He said "look at it!", dipole was "impossible" and my "question is irrelevant". His body language and delivery was even more condemning than the words :thumbsdn: . Zero effort was made to clarify the question.

I guess I owe the vendor an apology: I was listening with my ears and brain, instead of with my eyes and wallet. . . . e'nuff "attitude" from me.

Sorry AK! - I 'didn't mean to drop a turd in the Keg, er--Forum. The Fest indeed was a good time, with (exception noted) good folks all around! I bought the biggest thing in the swap room:yes:, won a doorprize, and met some really cool people, including ones in my own backyard I didn't know. It was a good day!

The question I asked the vendor was about the bass alignment - There are woofers on opposing Left-Right sides of each cabinet. I asked him if the alignment was Bipole (essentially omnidirectional, if XO below baffle step freq) or Dipole. [for anyone still thinking I'm nuts: A lateral dipole is possible - search Gradient Loudspeakers]

He said "look at it!", dipole was "impossible" and my "question is irrelevant". His body language and delivery was even more condemning than the words :thumbsdn: . Zero effort was made to clarify the question.

I guess I owe the vendor an apology: I was listening with my ears and brain, instead of with my eyes and wallet. . . . e'nuff "attitude" from me.

Sorry AK! - I 'didn't mean to drop a turd in the Keg, er--Forum. The Fest indeed was a good time, with (exception noted) good folks all around! I bought the biggest thing in the swap room:yes:, won a doorprize, and met some really cool people, including ones in my own backyard I didn't know. It was a good day!

-- Tubamark

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I was sitting right behind you when you asked the question, the guy in the wheelchair, and there was no doubt about their 'tude! In fact, I had already formed my opinion of the crew and just after you asked your question and they started the little dance around your question, I split. As I recall, you asked one guy, the guy in the picture, and he clearly didn't know and looked to another guy, a guy with an accent that was kind of hard to understand, and this guy said it was impossible... and that was about all I heard as I headed for the door.

There was another guy that asked what the cost of everything was and again, it was bounced off two of them, this time the same two guys but in reverse order, and there was no real answer, just some shrugs of the shoulders and he walked off; I guess if you have to ask...

You also have to remember, a big point these guys were selling were their cables. Those things were beauties, but I also knew if I had to ask, I couldn't afford them.. as well as with a lot of the other gear at the show..

I can tell you they did give me the prices on a couple pieces.. The Esoteric CD player were a little over half the cost of the speakers, and that huge CAT amp on the floor had a price on it as a used piece of gear that I would seriously consider if I was looking for a fantastic amp, at a reasonable price considering what they go for new..

I just don't have a room that I could consider putting an amp that size in, and I'm just not that into my music to dump that kind of jack on an amp, HOWEVER, if my wife said I could buy that CAT amp, I'd probably be kicking myself in the ass for knowing I would probably end up having it, and not enjoying a vacation for two years..

I listened to his speakers quite a bit, and the big brothers to those in the Tyler room. Those things are just so fantastic sounding. I told Retro that if he didn't have room to get them home I had plenty. I would say out of all the vendors there, the Tyler speakers were by far the ones that most impressed me sound wise..

There was another guy that asked what the cost of everything was and again, it was bounced off two of them, this time the same two guys but in reverse order, and there was no real answer, just some shrugs of the shoulders and he walked off; I guess if you have to ask...

I stopped in that room briefly and was surprised. The vendor was asking guys how they liked the system and they flat out told him they wouldn't buy it. He said he could take it, but when they told him they weren't impressed he seemed to go over and pout, so perhaps I missed out on something earlier. I wasn't impressed either and FWIW, those are the fugliest things I saw all weekend. uke: Even if they sounded good they are so visually obnoxious I wouldn't buy them.

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Not sure if someone else already mentioned this, but they are designed by the same guy who designed the B&W nautilus and also the matrix bracing system that B&W uses. A very smart guy apparently, and an excellent designer. There's a review of them in the January HiFi+ magazine.

That said, it doesn't excuse rudeness from the guys on the floor. The easiest way of dealing with that is to tell them - in front of everyone. Like "hey, excuse me, but why did you have to be so rude in your answer?". Embarrassment makes a good learning tool for people like that I've found.